Clarence Muse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, composer, and lawyer. He was inducted in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973. Muse was the first Negro to "star" in a film. He acted... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
The Black Stallion
While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive only to be stranded on a deserted island.
Passing Through
Eddie Warmack, an African American jazz musician, is released from prison for the killing of a white gangster. Not willing to play for the mobsters who control the music industry, including clubs and recording studios, Warmack searches for his mentor and grandfather, the legendary jazz musician Poppa Harris.
Car Wash
Car Wash covers the exploits of a close-knit group of employees at a Los Angeles Car Wash. In an episodic fashion, the film covers a full day, during which all manner of strange visitors make appearances.
The World's Greatest Athlete
Stuck with a feeble sports department, college coach Sam Archer (John Amos) faces the ax unless he can reverse the school's athletic fortunes. An African vacation with his assistant (Tim Conway) answers Archer's prayers when he spots the athletically gifted Nanu (Jan-Michael Vincent).
Buck and the Preacher
A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
Porgy and Bess
Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.
She Couldn't Say No
An heiress decides to pass out anonymous gifts in a small town.
The Sun Shines Bright
William Pittman Priest has to use all his wiles to retain his position as judge in his Kentucky hometown, while continuing to be a voice for the town's underclass and for democratic values.
The Las Vegas Story
When newlyweds visit Las Vegas, the wife's shady past comes to the surface.
My Forbidden Past
An 1890s New Orleans heiress (Ava Gardner) tries to buy a married doctor's (Robert Mitchum) love with her tainted family fortune.
Apache Drums
A gambler is thrown out of a western town, but returns when the town is suddenly threatened by a band of marauding Apaches.
Silver River
Unjustly booted out of the cavalry, Mike McComb strikes out for Nevada, and deciding never to be used again, ruthlessly works his way up to becoming one of the most powerful silver magnates in the west.
An Act of Murder
A man kills his terminally ill wife to prevent her further suffering.
Welcome Stranger
Crusty Dr. McRory of Fallbridge, Maine, hires his temporary replacement sight unseen. Alas, he and young, singing Doctor Jim Pearson don't hit it off; but once Pearson meets teacher Trudy Mason, he is delighted to stay. The locals, taking their cue from McRory, cold-shoulder Pearson, especially Trudy's stuffy fiancé.
Unconquered
Intrepid frontiersman Chris Holden foils the political and personal ambitions of renegade Martin Garth in the Ohio Valley following the French and Indian War.
My Favorite Brunette
Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing.
Joe Palooka in the Knockout
The third of the Monogram series based on Ham Fisher's "Joe Palooka" comic strip, opens with Knobby Walsh (Leon Errol), the manager of Joe Palooka (Joe Kirkkwood), trying to talk his way out of a traffic citation, and the story leading to that point is told in flashback as narrated by Walsh.
Two Smart People
A con woman (Lucille Ball) and a detective (Lloyd Nolan) follow a prison-bound swindler (John Hodiak) on his five-day gourmet binge.
Without Love
In World War II Washington DC, scientist Pat Jamieson's assistant, Jamie Rowan, enters a loveless marriage with him. Struggles bring them closer together.
The Thin Man Goes Home
Nick and Nora go on holiday, and end up involved in a murder.
Scarlet Street
A man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman after rescuing her from an attack. She believes he is rich and her boyfriend persuades her to con him out of his fortune.
The Soul of a Monster
A man recovers on his death bed after his wife makes a mysterious pact with a strange woman. But is he really alive?
Follow the Boys
A Hollywood star (George Raft) organizes wartime shows: W.C. Fields shoots pool; Orson Welles saws Marlene Dietrich in half.
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity is a film noir thriller from directory Billy Wilder from 1944 in which the protagonist sets up an insurance fraud.
Watch on the Rhine
Kurt and Sara Müller and their three children left Germany many years ago and finally arrive to her mother's house in Washington DC. Kurt are working for the anti-nazi resistance in Germany. The Romanian count Brankovic who also lives there tries to blackmail him.
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
In World War II, a British secret agent carrying a vitally important document is kidnapped en route to Washington. The British government calls on Sherlock Holmes to recover it.
Shadow of a Doubt
In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.
Heaven Can Wait
An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.
Flesh and Fantasy
Anthology film of three tales of the supernatural. The first story is set at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The second involves a psychic who predicts murder. The third is about a man who literally meets the girl of his dreams.
The Talk of the Town
When the Holmes Woolen Mill burns down, political activist Leopold Dilg is jailed for arson (and murder; one man was lost). Escaping, Leopold hides out in the home of his childhood sweetheart Nora Shelley ...which she has just rented to unsuspecting law professor Michael Lightcap.
The Black Swan
When notorious pirate Henry Morgan is made governor of Jamaica, he enlists the help of some of his former partners in ridding the Caribbean of buccaneers. When one of them apparently abducts the previous governor's pretty daughter and joins up with the rebels, things are set for a fight.
Tales of Manhattan
Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.
The Flame of New Orleans
In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
Love Crazy
William Powell and Myrna Loy are a couple whose marriage is on the verge of being broken up by his old girlfriend and her disapproving mother.
Invisible Ghost
The town's leading citizen is a man victim of homicidal impulses beyond his control. He is being controlled by his wife who had left him for another man. She was involved in a car accident that has left her brain damaged and is kept in the basement, in secret, by Kessler's gardener.
Belle Starr
After her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain Sam Starr Belle Shirley vows to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his small guerrilla group for a series of raids on banks and railroads, carpetbaggers and enemy troops.
Adam Had Four Sons
A governess becomes the center of a wealthy family after her employer's wife dies.
That Gang of Mine
A street kid has dreams of becoming a jockey. He gets his chance when he and his gang discover a poor old man who has a championship race horse. The man agrees to let the boy ride his horse in a race, but first the gang must get enough money to pay for the race's entry fees.
Murder Over New York
When Charlie's old friend from Scotland Yard is murdered when they attend a police convention in New York, Chan picks up the case he was working on.
Prison Train
Gangsters plan an assassination of a rival while he rides the train carrying him to prison.
Show Boat
Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.
Daniel Boone
In 1775, Daniel Boone settles Kentucky, despite menacing Indians and renegade whites.
Broadway Bill
A runaway heiress and her sister's husband join forces to race the latter's fast horse, Broadway Bill.
Black Moon
A woman returning to her island birthplace finds herself drawn to a voodoo cult.
The Mind Reader
Con-man Chandler and his partner Frank decide to start a clairvoyant act. Chandler falls for Sylvia, one of their marks, but their relationship is challenged when his deception impacts others' lives and Sylvia urges him to reform.
Flying down to Rio
A bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.
White Zombie
A rich man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiance, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.
The Death Kiss
The Death Kiss re-unites three of the stars of Dracula in a Hollywood movie-set murder mystery.
Lena Rivers
Young Lena Rivers, who was born out of wedlock, goes to live with a rich uncle. Unfortunately, her uncle's wife and daughter make no secret of their dislike of Lena and that they don't want her in their family.
If I Had a Million
A dying tycoon gives million-dollar windfalls to eight people picked from the city directory.
Hell's Highway
A prison-camp convict learns that his younger brother will soon be joining him behind bars.
Frisco Jenny
Frisco Jenny was orphaned by the 1906 earthquake and fire and has become the madame of prosperous bawdy house. She puts her son up for adoption and he rises to prominence as district attorney dedicated to closing down such houses. When her underling Dutton proposes killing the DA, she kills the underling and must face execution.
Blonde Venus
Safe in Hell
After accidentally killing the man who raped her and forced her into prostitution, a New Orleans woman flees to a Caribbean island. While she awaits her fiancé, the vicious local police chief sets his sights on her.